


Scares and Sweets

by Ray_Writes



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27312382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ray_Writes/pseuds/Ray_Writes
Summary: Halloween, 2000: Oliver's plans to impress Laurel are waylaid and then improved by his baby sister.
Relationships: Laurel Lance & Oliver Queen & Thea Queen, Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen
Comments: 15
Kudos: 23





	Scares and Sweets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Unusual_Raccoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unusual_Raccoon/gifts).



> Hello, all! I didn't have any plans to write a Halloween fic this year, but then the brilliant Unusual_Raccoon's story (and her line about Thea and trick-or-treating in particular) left me inspired, so I had to get something written down. This was completed very quickly, so apologies for any mistakes, and I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading, and Happy Halloween!

“Mom, no come on!”

Oliver couldn’t believe this. Had his parents always been trying to ruin his life or had it only been since his little sister had come along and decided to be such a pain?

He didn’t normally feel that way about her. And it was hard maintaining the anger as Thea skipped around him in her yellow princess dress, humming under her breath. But she was seriously cramping his style here!

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but Raisa is too sick to go out tonight.”

“So pay somebody else a little extra,” he suggested.

His father now shook his head. “You know your sister doesn’t listen to anyone else as well. We don’t want her going out tonight without someone who can handle her — why, thank you, your Highness,” he added as Thea stopped in front of him and gave a little curtsy, tripping over the plastic shoes she was wearing. Their dad bowed and reached out to straighten her back up.

“Can’t one of you take her, then? Tommy’s got _Scream 3_ on DVD,” he said. “There’s no point watching it if it isn’t Halloween. Laurel’s dad even okayed her staying till 10!” He’d been over the moon when she’d told them at school that morning. That was like a solid two hours longer than she could stay out most school nights.

“Then you can watch your movie after. I’m not sure why you’d even want to watch something like that,” his mother said with a shake of her head.

Oliver’s gut twisted a little as he wondered himself. But Tommy had gotten the DVD and said that girls loved it when guys comforted them during the scary parts. This could be his chance to really impress Laurel and show her he was more than a goofy slacker at school.

“And you know your mother and I are meeting with Walter and the board tonight about goals for the rest of this quarter,” his father said. “We won’t be home until dark, and that’s much too late for your sister. It’s her first year, Oliver. Don’t you remember how excited you were at that age?”

As if on cue, Thea looked up at him with her big green eyes. “Trick or treat!” She chirped through the gap her missing front tooth created.

“ _Man_ ,” he groaned. “Fine, I’ll take her. I gotta call Laurel. I promised her a ride.”

Oliver got out his cellphone and pulled her up in his recent contacts, waiting for her to pick up.

_“Hello?”_

“Hey, Laurel!” Oliver said, his hand jumping into his hair and ruffling it as he continued, “Listen, I’m gonna be a little late picking you up for the movie tonight. My parents are making me take Thea trick-or-treating.”

_“Aw, is it her first year? What’s she going as?”_

“Uh, Belle. The Disney Princess? She liked the dress, and mom said no to the seashells.”

He heard Laurel’s giggle on the other end of the phone, and it caused his heart to pick up a little as a chuckle left him in response. _“I remember those fights. Did you want some company while you take her? You could still pick me up on time, and we could just go to Tommy’s after.”_

Oliver felt his mouth drop open in shock for a moment. “Really? Yeah, great! I’ll let our driver know right now. See you in a bit!”

When they picked her up, Laurel was still wearing the headband with cat ears she’d had on at school that day, and she smiled ear to ear at Thea. “Wow, I get to meet a Princess tonight!”

Thea bounced up and down on the seat in excitement. “My name’s Belle!”

“Well, Belle, you look very pretty in that dress.”

Their driver took them back out to the suburbs and to the neighborhood Oliver and Tommy’s parents had always designated as a safe place to walk from house to house when they were little. The sun was only just starting to lower in the sky as they all got out of the car and started down the sidewalk, Thea tugging on his hand to pull him towards the first house.

Oliver stopped on the sidewalk and let go. “Just walk up there with the other kids, okay?”

“Ollie, we can go with her,” Laurel scolded him. “Come on.”

So he found himself standing back a little from the stoop as Thea proudly brandished her bag for a middle-aged lady. “Trick or treat!”

“My, what a sweet princess you make, young lady! Here you go.” She dropped two candy bars in Thea’s bag, her eyes rising to him and Laurel. “And aren’t you two precious! Would you dears like anything as well?”

Oliver and Laurel exchanged surprised looks. “Uh… okay.”

They continued down the street, Oliver unwrapping the chocolate bar they’d received to split with Laurel. Sometimes Thea would run up to the houses ahead of them, sometimes she needed some encouragement and hand-holding, especially if one of the houses had put up freaky or gory decorations. Oliver found himself frowning at those more often than not.

“They know little kids are coming tonight,” he remarked to Laurel as they came up the walk, passing gravestones and a fog machine.

“I know,” Laurel agreed. “We can always skip—”

A large man burst out of the bushes with big fake paws on and fangs in his mouth. “ _Rawr!_ ”

Oliver and Laurel both jumped, but Thea _screamed_.

“Oh, geez, I’m sorry!” The man said, faltering back a step.

“Hey, what’s the big idea, you jerk?” Oliver demanded, scooping Thea up as she wailed and tucking her into his body. If she wasn’t here along with other kids up and down the block, he would have said _asshole_ like he was thinking.

“I couldn’t see her over the bush. I swear, I thought it was just you two,” the man excused. 

His front door opened, and a woman stuck her head out. “Stan, what’s going on?”

“Your husband made my sister cry, that’s what’s going on,” Oliver snapped.

“Oh no.”

“We’ll keep moving,” Laurel suggested, tugging on Oliver’s hand to get him to stop glaring at the couple. Though she cast a scathing look back over her shoulder as she added, “Maybe put up a sign with age restrictions next time.”

Oliver did his best to rub Thea’s back with one hand as he continued to carry her down the block, his other hand gripping the candy bag she had dropped in her fright. He could kick himself; he’d ruined his baby sister’s first Halloween. 

Gradually she quieted and stopped shaking like a leaf, though she remained clinging to him, her plastic shoes dangling precariously from her toes. He kissed the top of her head and kept walking.

Laurel reached out with her sleeve to wipe at the tears running down Thea’s chubby cheeks. “It’s okay, Thea. The bad man’s gone.”

“I- I’m not, not scared,” his little sister stammered.

“That’s right. You’re a brave little princess,” Oliver encouraged her. “And we’re gonna get you all the candy that a brave little princess like you deserves, okay?”

Her head bobbed up and down in a nod. “Okay!”

He set her down, and she took one of his hands and one of Laurel’s, walking down the street once more. Oliver kept carrying her bag as he glanced over and shared a relieved smile with Laurel.

By the time they’d made the full circuit, it was dark enough that the porch lights and lampposts were all lit, and Oliver was still carrying the candy bag due to the sheer weight of it. Thea was skipping ahead once again towards the car, already babbling excitedly to the driver who stood at the ready to open the door for her, the earlier scare totally forgotten.

“She’s so cute,” Laurel said, and he felt her slip her hand into his as they walked the last few yards to the car. “And I really am glad you gave that guy back there a piece of your mind. He was totally out of line.”

“Yeah?” Oliver tried to play it cool as he added, “Well, all in a day’s work being a big brother. But, uh, we can stop home with Thea and then head over to Tommy’s, okay? He probably hasn’t even missed us.”

Unfortunately, when they got to the Manor, his parents still hadn’t returned from their dumb meeting. None of the house staff that was typically assigned to watch Thea if Raisa was unavailable were still in. Just his luck.

“I’ll text Tommy to just start the movie without us,” Laurel offered, and Oliver let out a defeated sigh as he flopped onto the couch. Thea dumped her whole bag of candy onto the rug in front of him, sorting it into piles and cackling with delight. He was suddenly very sure supplying Speedy with all this extra sugar had actually been a terrible idea. But hey, at least one of them was having fun.

Laurel settled down on the cushions beside him, smiling as she watched his little sister. “She is gonna crash _so_ hard in an hour.”

“Mm-hm. Sorry we aren’t gonna make it to Tommy’s.”

Laurel shrugged. “That’s okay. I’ve already seen it anyway.”

He sat up and looked at her. “You have?”

She grinned. “I went the first day with mom. Actually, she just paid for both tickets and left the theater to grade papers in the lobby. Sara was so mad cause dad wouldn’t let her go.”

“Dinah Laurel Lance, are you a horror film buff?”

She gave another shrug. “Maybe. It’s okay. I would have warned you and Tommy about anything too scary.”

His cheeks burned with embarrassment. So he’d been caught out. “We just thought it’d be cool to, you know, watch something grown-up.”

“I know. But I kinda like that you’re a big kid at heart, Ollie. And that you’ll go trick-or-treating with your little sister instead of ditching her for some movie. It’s really sweet.” She sat up a little as well and leaned in, pecking him quickly on the lips. Laurel looked away as she tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear.

“Oh,” he said, just as soft. “Cool.” He nearly smacked himself in the forehead after. _Cool_? He was such a moron.

But he was distracted when Thea toddled over and dumped a whole bunch of candy in his lap. “Here, Ollie,” she said, her lips smeared with chocolate. She repeated the process with Laurel. “Thank you.”

Oliver reached out and ruffled his little sister’s hair. “Thanks, Speedy. Happy Halloween.”

“Happy Halloween,” Laurel agreed with a smile.

“Trick or treat!” Thea crowed one more time.

The pair of them dissolved into laughter, Laurel’s head leaning on his shoulder. On instinct, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders in return, and she didn’t pull away.

Well, turned out he didn’t need a scary movie after all. Awesome.


End file.
